Visuals convey a large share of the information we receive from documents, particularly in business documents. This chapter describes what visuals do, the different types of visuals you can use in your work, and the best ways to use them.

The Purpose of Visuals

Visuals perform a number of important functions:

1. They arouse readers' immediate interest. Visuals catch a reader's eye by setting important information apart and breaking up sentences and paragraphs.
   
   
2. They increase readers' understanding by simplifying concepts. Visuals are especially helpful for explaining technical information to a general audience.
   
   
3. They especially help ESL readers. Visuals speak a universal language and so can be readily understood by a global audience.
   
   
4. They emphasize key relationships. Visuals quickly show contrasts, similarities, growth rates, movements, and so on.
   
   
5. They condense and summarize lots of information succinctly. A visual can present data in much less space than words alone.
   
   
6. They are highly persuasive. Readers are far more likely to recall a visual than a verbal description or summary.

Follow these guidelines for choosing effective visuals:

1. Use visuals only when they are relevant for your purpose and audience. A visual should contribute to your text, not be redundant.
   
   
2. Consider whether a specific visual will help your readers. Elaborate visuals are inappropriate for many audiences. In general, keep your visuals simple and direct.
   
   
3. Use visuals in conjunction with your written work, not in place of it. Visuals are not a substitute for written work.
   
   
4. Use a visual when it would be more difficult to rely on words alone. A verbal description is sometimes more difficult to follow than a visual presentation.
   
   
5. Experiment with several visuals before you select one. The first visual you try may not always be the best choice.
   
   
6. Be prepared to revise and edit your visuals. Just as you expect to draft and revise written work, you must expect to create several versions of a visual before you achieve the best result.
   
   
7. Always use high-quality visuals. Make sure your visuals are clear and readable.
   
   
8. Consider how visuals will look on the page. Visuals should add to the overall appearance of your work, not detract from it.

You need to do more than just insert visuals in your text; you must identify and interpret them for the reader. Always mention in the text when you are including a visual. Each visual should have a number and a caption that indicates what the visual illustrates. Tables and figures should be numbered separately throughout the text. If you use a visual that is not your own, cite the source. Place visuals as close as possible to your first mention of them in the text, and never introduce a visual before discussing it. Never collect all your visuals and place them in an appendix. Refer to each visual by its number and, if necessary, the title as well.

Avoid visuals that include more details than you discuss in the text, and never use a visual that contradicts what you've written. Avoid visuals that might be misunderstood or regarded as offensive in other cultures.

Two Categories of Visuals
Visuals can be divided into two categories-tables and figures. A table arranges information in columns or rows for easy reference. Any visual that is not a table is categorized as a figure. What types of visuals you should use depends on your audience.

Line graphs transform numbers into pictures. They vividly portray changes: cycles, trends, distributions. They are widely used in business for describing past performance and forecasting trends. Charts are preferable when communicating with a consumer audience. Circle (pie) charts and bar charts are widely used for this purpose. Bar charts are more fluid and dynamic than circle charts and can be used to show trends. Organizational charts picture the hierarchy in an organization, such as a business. Flow charts illustrate the order of events in a process. They often flow from left to right and back again, or else from top to bottom. A pictograph is similar to a bar chart but uses series of small symbols to represent data, instead of bars. Maps are sometimes used in reports; if you use a map, exclude features-rivers, elevations, cities-that do not pertain to your topic. Photographs can show what an object looks like, how to perform a certain procedure, "before and after" views, and relative sizes and shapes of several different objects. Drawings can show where an object is located, how a tool or machine is put together, or what signals or steps are taken in a particular situation. Drawings have two advantages over photographs: you can include as much or as little detail as necessary in a drawing, and a drawing can show interior as well as exterior views. A cutaway drawing shows internal parts normally concealed from view. An exploded drawing blows an object up and apart to show how the internal parts are arranged.

Computer Visuals
There is a wide variety of graphics software to choose from. Presentation graphics programs are specifically designed to produce the kinds of visuals described in this chapter. Such software guides you through the process of inputting data and selecting how you want it displayed. Programs such as Microsoft's PowerPoint make it easy to produce convincing presentation graphics.

Many graphics programs include clip art-ready-to-use images stored on disk. Clip art can also be downloaded from the Internet. Use clip art sparingly. Make sure the clip art you use is relevant for your audience and message and that it looks professional. Much clip art is not appropriate for business communications.